This Week I Played: the trailer for Legend of Zelda – Breath of the Wild

This week Joseph Harper doesn’t even get near a joystick or touchscreen. Instead he salivates over some very welcome news from E3. I didn’t go to E3 because I’m not rich and cool etc but by god did I get a lot of breaking news on my Facebook feed. It’s definitely cool that everyone will … Read more

Scandi-lous: What we can learn about sex and nudity from Scandinavian drama

Penny Ashton watches gritty Scandinavian crime drama The Bridge, and finds beauty in the unabashed pile of skin, spleens and wobbly bits.  It’s not every day you see a naked bottom half of a woman with intestines hanging out on the telly. Sure, the barrage of murder porn on our TV screens often alludes to gutted … Read more

Podcast: Business is Boring #7 – Kris Sowersby, the font designer superstar

‘Business is Boring’ is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound will speak with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and text. This week: Kris Sowersby of Klim Type Foundry. In the creative industries, like many … Read more

The Friday poem: “High Tea” by John Keast

New verse from Geraldine writer John Keast. High Tea A high ceiling in spring, white with a filigree border and genteel conversation floats over earl grey and the waitress’s apron rises and falls with her light step; tea and cakes, spilling cream, a man with a silly hat and ill-fitting hand-knit jersey trying to impress … Read more

Announcing the winner of the Surrey Hotel writers residency award (with pizza allowances)

Crime reporter Kelly Dennett is the winner of the inaugural Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writers Residency in Association with The Spinoff Award. There are two runners-up, both who have also won residencies at the Surrey Hotel in Auckland – in second place, Antony Millen of Taumaranui, who writes novels for young adults, with third place … Read more

E3 2016 power rankings: the best announcements by the big boys of the video game industry

Kermath, The Spinoff’s man at E3, has delivered his thoughts on this week’s briefings offered by some of the main players in the video game industry. Sony, EA, Bethesda, Microsoft, Ubisoft: all have spent serious cash announcing release dates for their forthcoming games and gear. This is how the individual extravaganzas break down. Every year … Read more

Jane Yee on The Block: It’s week three and bathroom renovation is still the pits

Our resident Blockaholic Jane Yee recaps the highs and lows from week three of The Block NZ, including Benjam ‘Dylz’ Button and shocking banana experience. It’s bathroom week on The Block NZ, and it’s been bloody hard going. A million tradies, two million different types of tiles and three million visits from (and hugs for) … Read more

The UK is heading towards the EU escape chute. And it deserves everything it gets

Less than a week out from the Brexit vote, the ‘leave’ side is in the ascendant. But it’s hard to find much to admire in either camp, writes David Hall. Plus: a word on Jo Cox If the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, it deserves everything that comes to it. Perhaps what comes will … Read more

The weekly Unity Books best-seller list – June 17

A weekly feature at the Spinoff Review of Books: The best-selling books at the Wellington and Auckland stores of Unity Books. THE BEST–SELLER CHART FOR THE WEEK JUST ENDED: June 17 UNITY BOOKS WELLINGTON 1. In Love with These Times: The Flying Nun Story (HarperCollins, $37) by Roger Shepherd You’ve bought the book (or should), now read … Read more

‘It’s going to be a clear out’ – a long lunch with Council aspirant Bill Ralston

Once Bill Ralston was the baddest man in New Zealand journalism. Now he’s running for council. Over a long lunch at Prego Tim Murphy asks him why. I tried to warn Bill Ralston not to stand for the Auckland Council.  ‘Don’t do it Bill’ I tweeted when talk grew late last year of his interest … Read more

This article about terrible millennials is quite sexist and dumb

On Monday a new North & South came out, with a story as old as time: ‘what the hell is wrong with millennials’? Two millennials had a read and What They Found Inside Will Shock You. The latest issue of North & South magazine has done the unthinkable, and found a non-millennial to shine a selfie-camera spotlight on … Read more

Throwback Thursday: What qualities make up the typical lovely New Zealand girl (in 1969)?

Curious to see what life was like for young New Zealand women of a different era, Alex Casey turns to a 1969 special about beauty queens for a historical wake-up call. It’s hard yakka being a woman sometimes, with everyone screaming at us to hide our bra straps, contour our faces and clap for all … Read more

Honestly Seven Sharp, this is just fucking weird

The Spinoff’s José Barbosa was watching TVNZ’s flagship current affairs show and he saw something he couldn’t un-see. To work through his trauma he made this video. As with all our TV coverage this post comes to you with the support of Lightbox, who always make appropriate music choices. Visit them today for a free … Read more

Danyl McLauchlan: Five things I was thinking about while writing Mysterious Mysteries of the Aro Valley

In which Wellington writer Danyl McLauchlan approaches his latest novel Mysterious Mysteries of the Aro Valley from five directions. He took the photos, too. Thing one: Tone I was about halfway through writing this book when a friend asked me what it was about. I thought for a while, then answered, “Sorry, but I can’t really put it into words.” He … Read more

Rugby is a 23 player game: How the All Blacks get the most out of their bench

The All Blacks bench has been given plenty of praise for its performance against Wales last week, but as Scotty Stevenson discovers, it’s not just about the final twenty minutes. It starts much earlier than that. So much has been said about the final twenty minutes of the first test between the All Blacks and … Read more

Teina Pora has been shortchanged by at least $2 million – Cabinet’s own guidelines say so

Teina Pora has been given the thing he said he wanted most – a formal apology for the 22 years he wrongly spent behind bars as an innocent man. He also has been offered $2.5 million in compensation. Applying the Cabinet’s own principles, it ought to be a minimum of $4.5 million, writes professor of … Read more

Is Stephen Donald the Winston Churchill of New Zealand rugby?

Appearing every few years when New Zealand needs him most, Stephen Donald once again struck fear into the hearts of our enemies last night. Don Rowe considers the Beaver’s leadership, and places him amongst the finest we’ve ever seen. Last night Stephen Donald drew a line in the turf over which the entire nation of Wales … Read more

Jesse Mulligan will announce the winners of Surrey Hotel Residency live on air on Friday!

The winners of our “exciting” new writers residency award will be announced live on air this Friday by Jesse Mulligan. Famous broadcaster Jesse Mulligan will announce the winners of the inaugural Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writers Residency in Association with The Spinoff Award on his Radio New Zealand show on Friday . The new … Read more

Before he was an Auckland Council candidate Bill Ralston was the wildest man in news

Yesterday afternoon three legends of news had lunch at (where else?) Prego. The Herald‘s former editor-in-chief Tim Murphy and ex-Mediaworks’ head of news Mark Jennings interrogated ’90s news icon Bill Ralston about his run for Council. Ahead of our publication of Murphy’s account of the lunch, Jennings remembers the glory days of his former colleague. Bill and … Read more

The face of NZ’s brave business future in the world? Men, men and more men

A recent international “innovation mission” was predictably and overwhelmingly dominated by men. To help organisers remedy such absurd and damaging imbalances, Anna Guenther and Jessica Venning-Bryan have produced a list for next time A 50-strong trade delegation of New Zealand’s finest innovators and business people headed off recently to Israel. Their plan? An “innovation mission”, … Read more

What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this: Katherine Mansfield on the Napier-Taupo road

Peter Wells reviews Katherine Mansfield’s The Urewera Notebook, edited by Anna Plumridge. The Napier-Taupo road has the high status of being one of those roads on which you lose cellphone coverage. This means you leave behind the 21st Century. You plunge into the uncertainties of real time, presented naked of technology to the landscape. And the landscape itself … Read more

‘Dealing with council, I’m in combat mode’ – The Coco’s Cantina sisters on doing business in Auckland City

A conversation between Damaris and Renee Coulter, the women behind Coco’s Cantina, about their endless struggles with the Auckland Council. First, a long caveat: It’s popular in many Auckland circles to malign the council, but most of the time it’s not deserved. The Auckland Council is vast and complex and has an incredibly important job to … Read more

Last fan standing: The tragic tale of a lonely Grey’s Anatomy lover

It’s hard being a loner fan. Madeleine Chapman speaks of her struggle to find a single friend who still cares about Grey’s Anatomy. Contains spoilers, if anyone still cares.  “Have you watched the latest Grey’s yet?” “Mad, I’m sorry to say that I’m not sure if I ever will.” That was it. On the 18th of December … Read more

Why won’t John Key admit the Orlando attack was a homophobic hate crime?

When asked if the killing of 50 people at an Orlando gay bar was motivated by homophobia, John Key claimed that he “didn’t know”. Laura Vincent knows.  It’s a fact that 49 people lost their lives in the worst mass shooting in American history at a club named Pulse in Orlando, Florida. It’s a fact that this … Read more

The creator of Why Am I? on taking smart science to the idiot box – and succeeding

For the past 45 years the Dunedin longitudinal study has been charting every aspect of the lives of 1037 people, making it one of the most important studies in human history. José Barbosa talks to producer Mark McNeill about how you make interesting TV about hard science. Mark McNeill makes TV the way Steven Segal fights Tommy … Read more

Diversify or die: What New Zealand television can learn from our film industry

New Zealand is rightly proud of the multi-cultural society it’s growing into. But why are there still minimal Māori, Pacific and Asian populations in prime time? And why does cultural representation in the film industry remain light years ahead of television? In the second part of a two-part series, Sonia Gray tries to find out. … Read more

We found the Usain Bolt of world rugby, and he is a lowly touch judge

The fastest man in world rugby was on the field as Wales played the All Blacks on Saturday. He just wasn’t where you’d expect. It all happened in 15 seconds. Ryan Crotty, a bank teller moonlighting as an All Black, was tackled. The ball burst free. A Welshman kicked it upfield, sending a stampede of professional … Read more

Flying Nun: In love with the sound of their own voice, more like

An essay by Gary Steel on the hits and myths of Flying Nun, as chronicled by the record company’s founder Roger Shepherd in his new best-selling memoir. Flying Nun. Was there ever a record label that was more famous than any of its acts? It’s the home of the “Dunedin sound”, The Clean, The Chills, … Read more